Panels for floor or wall coverings are generally designed as a double structure comprising at least a substrate layer and a top layer, wherein the top layer is provided with a print layer or printing in the form of a motif, such as, for example, wood fibres or a concrete structure. Such panels are optionally provided with connection means or connection parts for easily connecting or fixing two or more panels, so that a floor or wall covering is obtained.
Such panels are known from the prior art. In this way, EP 1 938 963 discloses, for example, a panel with a decor layer or film on an upper side of a core of plastic and a transparent finishing layer on top of said decor film. A transparent lacquer layer is applied on the finishing layer, and a back-pull layer is provided on the back of the core. A lockable tongue-and-groove connection is provided at two mutually opposite edges of the panel. The decor layer includes a PVC film that is printed with a decor, and the lacquer layer is cured by means of UV. The panel has a thickness of 4 to 8 millimeters, and the weight per unit of surface area ranges from 1.5 to 2.0 kilograms per square meter per mm thickness.
Alternatively, EP 2 339 092 discloses a panel for forming a covering. In particular a floor panel for forming a floor covering, which comprises coupling parts at least at two mutually opposite edges to couple two of such panels to one another by means of a downward movement of a panel relative to the other wherein these coupling parts comprise a first locking system which effects a locking in the plane of the panels and perpendicularly to said edges, and comprise a second locking system which effects a locking in the plane perpendicular to the plane of the panels wherein at least one of the coupling parts is at least partly realized from soft PVC (polyvinyl chloride), as well as at least partly in the form of a profiled part of soft PVC.
In yet a different embodiment, the prior art provides a floor panel according to WO 2010/023042, comprising a carrier layer comprising a plastic material that is flexible and elastic at an operating temperature of the floor, a decorative layer which is applied above the carrier layer, additional mechanical locking means arranged on at least two plate edges, wherein said locking means correspond to the locked condition of two floor panels.
Such panels offer an attractive visual and acoustic aspect on the one hand, while properties such as ease of Implementation, stiffness and durability are also emphasized. However, to obtain optimal properties of said panels for floor or wall covering remains a challenge. For instance, panels according to the prior art appear to be strongly subject to contraction and expansion under the influence of temperature. Contraction and expansion will lead to the deformation of the wall or floor covering, as a result of which the individual panels are pushed out of the plane and moreover, a mutual release of the connection means, or the phenomenon that the individual plate-shaped elements are driven apart from one another, as a result of which gaps occur.
The prior art does not or does not adequately provide a solution to one or more of the afore-mentioned problems.